This is my first real blog. I'll be discussing things about my family, faith and food of course. :) We live on a tight income so I plan to discuss that. Menus and such. I want to be more accountable on doing family devotions so that will be a topic as well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. In a large bowl, add eggs and evaporated milk as well as salt and pepper. I also added some cumin and red chili pepper. You could do various spices that you like to add to it if you want. Whisk well. Then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into the baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the center is set.

I let mine cook on the longer side and it got a bit more done on the bottom than I would have liked. So next time I will start checking it at 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split rolls and spread a bit of pesto on each half of the bread. Layer turkey, ham, cheese and tomato on the roll. Wrap sandwich in foil and place in the oven on a cookie sheet for a few minutes until nice and toasty. About 5-10 minutes should be fine. Then enjoy!

These are so yummy! These taste just as good as something you'd get in a restaurant only much cheaper.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Oh my, this cake is so good. It's very rich but also a refreshing change from traditionally iced cakes. The cake is moist and gooey and the crunch from the heath bars is just a great addition. If you've never tried this cake before, you really need to make it soon.

Bake cake as directed on the box. While the cake is still a bit warm, poke holes in the cake. Pour the condensed milk over the cake and then the caramel topping. When cake has cooled top with cool whip and crushed heath bars. Refrigerate.

We ate this before it had time to get nice and cold. It was still heavenly!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Have you heard of House Party? It is an awesome site where you can sign up to host parties and receive free products. There's nothing to buy or sell. You just host a party and share info and products. We've been able to do a few so far and it's been a blast. You may remember my post on Guys Night Out where we got to host a Microsoft Windows 7 party.

This time we were hosts for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars house party. It was so much fun! My boys invited several of their friends and we had a great turnout. In the party box, we got 10 Star Wars action figures, tattoos, coupons, Battle Game, and more. The boys had a great time!

My boys are already huge Star Wars fans so they were very excited for this party. I made hot dogs and had everyone bring their favorite snack to share. The kids ate outside and then had ice cream sundaes. They played outside for a bit and then came inside and watched The Clone Wars Season 3 Premiere. They loved it! They also got a chance to play the Star Wars Battle game and really had fun with that. It was just a fun night.

Check out the website and sign up to host a party! They are so much fun to do!

*My opinions are my own. I was given the party pack to host the party but wasn't compensated in any way to right this blog entry. I am merely sharing how much we love the site and the opportunities it gives.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I was needing something to make for our Thursday Morning Coffee last week. So I went searching through some of my favorite blogs and found this Egg Bake from Finding Joy in My Kitchen. She has many yummy looking recipes. I did change her recipe up a bit based on what I had and added more egg. Not much though. Here is what I did.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish (I used butter). In a non stick skillet, saute mushrooms with a bit of butter. Remove from pan and set aside. Add a bit more butter/oil and saute the pepper/onion mixture.

In a large bowl, mix together potatoes, mushrooms, and pepper/onion mixture.Layer half of the potato mixture into the dish.Sprinkle with half of the cheese.Then, spread the rest of the potato mixture over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Mix together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour over the potato mixture.Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Let the dish stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy it! I had a bit of a cold so I couldn't taste as well as I would have liked but from what I could tell it was delicious!

Friday, August 27, 2010

On Thursdays, us ladies get together for Thursday Morning Coffee. Our I should say all day coffee. LOL We stay until time to pick up kids. It is a wonderful day of fellowship, yummy food and deepening of friendships. It's a time we can laugh, get advice, lean on each other and just have a good time. I love my Thursdays and couldn't imagine my week without it. I am very grateful to our most gracious host and one of my best friends, Wendy. She truly makes us feel like our home is her home. We do occasionally hold it at another house but usually it's at Wendy's.

Today I made this recipe. It was really good! I will definitely make it again and I hope you all enjoy it! I found it on AllRecipes. I did cut back on the nutmeg, cinnamon (because I used cinnamon swirl bread), eggs and milk. I don't like soggy things and this was just right for me. Oven-Baked Caramel French Toast (As I made it)

Pour sauce into a 9x13 inch baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Place half of the bread cubes on top of the sauce, sprinkle with the remaining pecans and cover with the remaining cubes of bread.

The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the French toast from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until lightly brown. Drizzle sauce over the toast right before serving.

I didn't use a blender to mix the egg/milk mixture. I have one of those shaker cups with a lid and pour spout and used that. I just shook it up real well. This was delicious though and I'll be making it again. Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

This is a very yummy quick recipe. It's so easy for those busy nights and so yummy with some mexican rice along with it. I love the Birds Eye Steamfresh mexican rice if I am really running low on time. I can usually find them on sale for a $1 a bag or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Place the burritos in a row across the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a bowl, stir together the cream of chicken soup, cumin, chili powder, sour cream and chile peppers. Spread evenly over the top of the burritos. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is slightly browned and burritos are heated through. Serve with tomato, avocado, olives and salsa.

The last time I made this (when I took the picture), I was out of diced green chiles. I decided to sub a can of rotel, drained and it worked great! I also use healthy request cream of chicken soup and low fat sour cream to help this be a bit healthier. Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

This is a recipe I got from a lady at MOPS. She did a great job showing us examples of some quick healthy meals. Everything we tried was so yummy! These are especially good and pretty healthy too! I would never guess they didn't have eggs or oil in them.

In one large bowl, add all 4 ingredients and mix well. Line your muffin pan with muffin liners and fill half full or so with mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Makes about 22-24 muffins.

I love to do these in the mini muffin pan as well! These are so yummy and my kids love them! These definitely Work for me!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

My two oldest children were baptized on July 25th. To say I am proud, would be an understatement. I am so glad that they have decided to make Jesus Lord of their lives. My children are so precious to me and I love them so very much. I pray that they continue to learn and grow in the Lord, becoming stronger in their faith.

On the way to church that morning of their baptism, my son (Rocket Boy) kept saying how it was such a great day because now he would get to be with Jesus forever. It was so precious to see him so excited. I know Princess was excited too but she's not as vocal as him.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

We have a bakery in town that makes caramel apple bread. It is so yummy. It's also priced to where it's something I rarely ever buy. That's why I made up the Apple Butterscotch Bread. But today I decided to buy a loaf. It has probably been a year since I bought a loaf. They also sell a cinnamon butter that is just heavenly on the bread. However, it's an extra $4 to buy it. So you're looking at $10 for a loaf of very yummy bread and a package of very yummy cinnamon butter. Too much for me to spend on bread and butter so I made my own cinnamon butter at home! It's super easy and so good. Here ya go!Cinnamon Butter

1 stick of butter (softened, I even like to microwave it just a bit to get it slightly runny, it makes it easier to blend together)1/2 cup of powdered sugar1 1/2- 2 tsp of cinnamon (depends on how strong you want it, I used closer to 2 tsp)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until combined well. It should be nice and creamy. Store in the refrigerator but I find it's best to let it sit out for a bit to soften before each use. Enjoy!

This would be great on everything from yeast rolls, pancakes, waffles, and more! It is so good! Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

I think many of us really aren't able to take a vacation this summer. If we're not able to go anywhere, I still want to make it a summer filled with memories. There are still some great ways to make your summer awesome and spend very little. Here's some things you can do.

Go to the park. You can pack a picnic lunch to make it even more fun.

Check your local theater and see if they have any cheap summer movies. Our local theater is a Carmike Cinema and is running a great promo right now for Summer Movies. On Tuesday they have a movie for $1. It's an already on DVD movie but hey, it's only a dollar and a fun experience for kids to go to the movies. If you're like us, taking the kids to a regular priced movie is rare, even a matinee. It just is so expensive. They are also offering dollar popcorn and drinks on Tuesdays so that makes it an even better deal!

Check for restaurants that have kids eat free specials along with a craft or activity for the kids. Tuesday night (5pm-7pm) at Chick-Fil-A they have an activity for the kids and kids eat free with the purchase of an adult meal. I think it's one child's meal per adult meal. They also just had their Cow Appreciation Day where dressing like a cow got you a free meal. They run different things here and there so keep an eye out.

Fazoli's also has kids night on Tuesday night (5pm-8pm). They have an activity and all kid's meals are just .99. You can't beat that! To my knowledge you're not required to buy anything to get it for that price so it's a very economical dinner.

Steak n Shake has kids eat free on Saturday and Sunday. With each $8 you spend you get one free kid's meal.

If you like to include eating out as part of your summer, sign up on the email clubs of all your favorite places. Many times you can get coupons for signing up and get coupons throughout the year.

Local museums usually have discounted days or free days. Check you local ones and see if they have any specials.

Grill out and eat outside. You can play this up or down as much as you like.

Camp out in your own backyard. If you have a fire pit you could even roast some marshmallows! This is on my wish list to have. I think it would be so much fun!

One of our favorite things to do is to go to Sonic for Half Price drinks during happy hour (2-4pm everyday). Steak n Shake also has this special on their drinks and shakes (2-4pm weekdays). As well as, Dairy Queen (2-5pm weekdays). Check with your local locations to verify participation and times.

Go bowling at your local bowling alley. Some have specials. Ours have a bowl two get one free on Mondays. Check yours to see if they have any specials.

Go to VBS. Our kids love Vacation Bible School. This year they participated at our church as well as a friend's church. They had a blast! My friend's church even took the kids horseback riding at the end of the VBS. The kids all loved it!

Have a themed dinner night. One of our favorite dinners at Disney World when we went two years ago, was at 'Ohana. We recreated our special dinner at home. It was so much fun!

Have an ice cream social. Invite your kids' friends over and their parents too! Everyone can make their own sundaes. You could even have each guest bring their favorite topping.

Game night- This can be a board game or even using a gaming system like the Wii.

Movie night- Pop popcorn and turn off the lights. Let everyone stay up a little later and watch your favorite family movie. You could even have a movie marathon either in one day or a few days of your favorite series. Such as Narnia, Lord of the Rings, etc.

There are many more things you can do. I would love to hear what frugal ideas you all have! Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Hi everyone! I didn't remember to take a picture of this but it was sooo good.

Easy Slow Cooker Stroganoff

2-3 pounds of beef stew meat (I used part beef stew meat and part stir fry strips that were marked down)2 cans of cream of mushroom soup 1 packet of onion soup mix8oz beef broth1 small jar of sliced mushrooms

Place meat in the crockpot. I mixed the soup, soup mix, broth and mushrooms in a bowl and then poured on top of the meat. I am sure you could just dump everything in as well. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or until meat is tender.

This was so yummy! It was plenty salty enough and I used the healthy request cream of mushroom soup with reduced sodium. So I wouldn't add any additional salt. Serve over noodles or rice. Delicious!!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Do you suffer from CHAOS like me? That's Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, by the way for those of you not familiar with the Flylady. I have the book Sink Reflections and can't recommend it enough for those who struggle in this area.

For me, the desire to be clutter free has always been there. I just hold on to too many things for way too long. I used to keep every single piece of clothing that my little girl wore. EVERYTHING. I finally started to really go through it and decided what to keep and sell/donate within the last 3 or so years. It was hard for me because I held an emotional attachment to those things, like many of my other things. It has been a process for me throughout the last 3 years or so that I would occasionally go through and purge items. It was something I didn't do all at once.

I have been watching those shows lately, like Hoarders, on tv. I realize I have some of those tendencies. Not to keep everything little thing, but that emotional attachment to stuff. While moving in March, I was determined to rid us of anything we don't need. I took a look at everything. Some of it was not by choice as we had a mold issue in our apartment. It was worse than we had thought and some items just had to be thrown away. But it was my opportunity to purge in a major way. Some things I donated, others I sold so that we would move with only what we truly wanted to keep.

The results were wonderful! We now have so much less clutter! It's been an amazing transformation and I am so happy about it. Even after we moved I took a second look at things and was able to come up with 10 totes worth of items to get rid of as well as a large trash bag full of stuff. I recently had a yard sale with one of my best friends, Wendy, and was able to sell everything but two totes worth! To say I was excited is an understatement!

This move was just the push I needed to be clutter free. And while, there may always be a little clutter here and there I plan on never letting it go to where I feel we just have too much stuff. It can really do a number on your mood when you just feel surrounded by stuff. I didn't think to take any before pictures but I do have a few pictures on how I have organized a few things.

I have an armoire which we are now using in the living room. I'm using it to store our family games as well as craft type items. These type of things can easily become cluttered and this is how I organized them.

Here's a closer look at my organization of the smaller things. I got several of those plastic shoebox type containers and labeled them with the contents. Now instead of digging through a drawer for 10 minutes trying to find the tape, I'll know exactly where it is.

If your kids are like mine, they'll have all of those small toys. Action figures, legos, leapsters, and so on that can really clutter a room fast. We got this cube organizer about a year ago or so and love it. I use baskets to put the toys in. This helps tremendously in their room. I got this one at Target and can't recommend it enough.

Then I have several spices and didn't want to use a cabinet for them. So I found these cute baskets at TJ Maxx and three of them contain spices, vanilla, sprinkles and things like that. Then I got one to roll up a few washcloths and hand towels for kitchen use. That way they are close at hand without having to use a drawer up for those items.

Organizing things can make such a difference with how clutter can look. Try thinking of ways you can organize your clutter and purge items you just don't need anymore. It can be a great way to earn extra money if you hold a yard sale or bless someone else with an item they may need.

I'm still hoping to get back to new recipes here very soon. Since we have still been finishing up our new place it has been things that are quick and easy. Hope you all are having a great week!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been a bit since I've blogged anything. It's been a very different few weeks. The kids were out of school (alot) for snow. Now we're moving. You probably won't hear much from me this month. However, I am so excited to get back to blogging. And hopefully that things will settle down and get back to normal. So please bear with me and more yummy recipes will be coming! Thank you all!God bless,Amanda

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

This dip is extremely good and addictive! A friend of mine from MOPS has brought it twice to a Mom's Night Out and it disappears! So easy and so good! I highly recommend you make this soon! I made it the other night and served it with Triscuits (fire roasted tomato flavor). So yummy!

In a sauce pot over medium heat, combine cream cheese and soup until creamy. Then add chicken and heat through. In a baking dish (I used an 8x8 dish), pour cream cheese mixture in and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is nice and melted. Then remove from oven and top with sliced jalapeno peppers. Serve with crackers and/or chips and enjoy!

I'm all for making things healthier and lower in fat. So I used reduced fat cream cheese and healthy request cream of chicken soup with fantastic results!

This would be a great dish for your next potluck! And it's really easy too! This recipe definitely Works for Me!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I made this last Thursday for our Thursday morning coffee group. I really like this recipe. The cooked sugar mixture is so yummy! I think you could even do it in a square or rectangle pan and get that yummy sugar mixture on each piece.

Monday, February 1, 2010

This is a very yummy rice recipe. I served it with burritos and it was a delicious addition! I found this recipe on Allrecipes. I love finding recipes on that site. You always can read through the reviews and see what people thought and what they changed.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The kids went back to school last week, on Tuesday to be exact. I had planned to get to the store last week and make some new things to post on my blog. Well, unfortunately snow changed my plans. I did not leave my house after Wednesday of last week due to the weather. I won't drive in anything like snow or ice. And we had both. I did get out yesterday and went to Food Lion. They had some good deals. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get everything I needed and had planned to go back out today. Only now I am hearing there is lots of black ice out after some precipitation last night/early morning. I'm ready for it to thaw out!

The kids have now been out of school due to weather since Thursday. I honestly don't see them going back tomorrow either. I do love having them home. I just haven't enjoyed being stuck in the house. Not for this long anyway.

It's supposed to get warmer on Thursday. I am ready for it! Bring on the warmer temps!

Hi everyone! I am sorry that I have been so quiet lately. We've had a lot of sickness and of course the kids have been home from school so I have been enjoying them. They go back on Tuesday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Other than spending Christmas eve in the ER with Rocket Boy (it turned out he had pneumonia) it was great! Everyone is well now so that is a blessing!

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About Me

Hi! My name is Amanda and I am the wife of Mike and the mommy of three wonderful blessings. We live in Tennessee. :)
Join me as I try to get a handle on our budget, try new recipes and work to draw our family closer to God.